A shadows path to light
by grandshadowseal
Summary: Dark link is trying to find his way in a Hyrule he doesn't know, will a certain little pickpocket be able to help?
1. Chapter 1

This is my first ever story so please let me know how you like it!

It was during a thunderstorm at the middle of the night when a shadowy figure entered castle town. "It's been a long time since I've been back here." The man muttered as he held the drenched hood of his cloak further over his head, completely hiding his face from castle town's night guards. The guards themselves never gave the stranger a second glance, they were too busy trying to shelter themselves from the icy rain and harsh winds and that suited the cloaked man just fine as he made his way down some cobblestone steps still holding his hood over his face, avoiding the suspicion filled gaze of some other guards. 'I didn't make it all the way here just to end up in a dungeon for looking suspicious, not that I blame them' the young man sneered from under his cloak. Shivering as the cloak did little to shield him from the rain that chilled him to the bone, as the downpour got worse the stranger finally made it towards an inn; luckily for him the inn was still open.

As he entered the inn he saw an old man -whom he presumed was the innkeeper- sitting behind the counter reading a book. Almost entirely bald but for a few strands of long grey hair messily scattered across his head, he would have honestly looked better with them cut off. He also had a rather large nose with a wart on the right side doing nothing to improve an already unattractive feature. As the cloaked man began to walk up to the counter he heard a squeaky voice that sounded like a combination of a rusty gate opening and a cat getting its tail stepped on, the man swore his ears were bleeding!

Trying to listen to what the innkeeper was saying without cringing, he grimaced.

"You're a bit late in coming in here, I was about to shut but you're in luck, I've got one room left."

Trying not to shudder from the old man's voice the young man managed to say "Ok, I'll take the room" through gritted teeth, as the man reached the counter he realized that the innkeeper wasn't sitting but was in fact standing. If the old man stood beside him, he would only reach up to the cloaked man's chest.

Noticing the hooded man staring at him the innkeeper croaked out "It'll cost you 300 rupee's for the room, seeing as how it's the last one."

His jaw dropped at the price of the room "By the three, that's double the price for a room around here!"

The old man grinned and once again assaulted his ears with his horrific voice, "if you don't like it then get out but this is the only inn left open tonight."

Grumbling he shot the innkeeper a death glare before slamming the rupees on the counter and waiting for his key.

"Fucking robbing old coot, that was most of my rupees I'll be lucky if I've got 50 left! I hope you die in your sleep or better still maybe I'll slit your throat and then I won't need to suffer your voice anymore!" the man grumbled as he climbed the stairs to his room, flinching as he heard the old man crackle from downstairs "I swear my pillow will have blood on it tomorrow!" Opening the door to his room he was disgusted to see how small and basic it was a small bed, a bedside table with a candle on it and a chair. "I can't believe I paid 300 rupee's for this" he scowled as he peeled his soaking wet cloak from his equally soaked body, revealing a hylian in a black tunic and trousers, with raven black hair in a short ponytail and crimson orbs that seemed to almost glow in the dimly lit room, sighing as he wiped his dripping bangs that stopped just over his eyes from his moon kissed skin.

Moving to the foot of his bed leaving a puddle of water near the door, he placed his sword and shield against the bedside table and his bag at the side of his bed. Stripping from his gear and the remaining wet clothes, shivering as the cold air touched his damp naked skin he rummaged through his bag for clean dry clothes. Hanging his wet ones on the chair before climbing into his bed, leaning over to blow out the candle on the table he began to think about how long it had been since he had last been in castle town, hell how long since he'd been to Hyrule!

'It's been six years, since I left, six years since Link killed that bastard Ganondorf! I wonder what the "hero" is doing nowadays, maybe I'll give him a visit" he thought as he fell asleep listening to the rain with a mischievous smirk on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Warning alert! Warning alert! This chapter has violence and gore, if you have a weak stomach please refrain from reading! You have been warned!

Waking up to the sound of a fight wasn't his favourite thing in the morning but it was known to happen during his travels, he didn't particularly care about it until it had gotten a little too close to his room for his liking. Groggily he dragged himself out of his bed and over to his clothes drying on the chair. "Still damp" he grumbled as he stuffed his still wet clothes into his bag while putting on his gear and strapping his sword and shield to his back, if luck was on his side then he wouldn't have to use them. Keeping an eye on the door he looked for his cloak - not wanting to be caught off guard in case the people in the hall decided to take the fight into his room - just another thing known to happen to him. 'Damn, I'm really unlucky in these situations' he thought as he spotted his cloak beside the puddle of water from last night's thunderstorm. Sticking on his cloak, he sighed frowning at the door as the fight was now right outside his room. His frown suddenly turned into a shit eating grin "Well at least every time someone fights near my door they'll end up in a pile of blood at my feet." he said in a rather smug voice.

As he opened the door he seen two huge monsters of men, every one of the muscles on their body looking as if ready to burst from the skin, were brawling it out with something now bloody and unrecognisable in the hall. The muscle men suddenly stopped fighting and all heads turned to the raven haired man that stepped out from the safety of his room and into the hall with a sickeningly sweet smile playing on his lips. Now, anyone with an ounce of sense in their head would know to stay away from the unnaturally cheerful man because although his mouth was pulling a pleasant smile, his eyes however showed something much more sinister in store for the men that currently had their eyes locked on the smiling man but sadly couldn't see the danger held within them. "Would you mind not making such a racket this early in the morning, your beginning to give me a headache?"

The young man said in a voice too cheerful for the situation he was in. Just then one of the muscle men walked straight up to the cloaked man saying "Look here, the little toothpick wants to play hero!" in a mocking tone while laughing in his face.

The other man joined in the laugh none of them noticed the raven haired man's happy smile turn into one of sinister delight, something else happened to the man that not even himself had noticed as he listened to the two brutes laughing at him, his skin turned form moon kissed to an ever so faint shade of ash gray and his crimson eyes glowed ever so slightly. The changes in his own body went unnoticed by the young man as he waited for the two giant's laugh to die down just a bit before he growled in a low threatening voice "I really don't appreciate being called something so insignificant as a toothpick nor would I place myself as a hero for that matter, I'm more of an anti-hero!"

Before any of the men had time to blink the man closest to the cloaked man had a dagger jammed into his jaw, blood sprayed everywhere as the ash coloured man ripped his dagger vertically from the brutes face. "My censorious apologies for not being able to use my sword but the hall's just a little too small for it so we'll just have to make do" he sang gleefully as he finished tearing the dagger from the man's jaw, splitting it in two. The muscle man gave the most horrifyingly ear-piercing scream a man with a jaw like his could make before being drop kicked in the chest with heavy boots breaking four ribs in the process as he was sent flying into the horror-stricken friend behind him.

The cloaked man snickered and licked the blood from his dagger as he watched with amusement, the last brute struggle to pull the dead weight of his fallen comrade off him. Eventually pulling his now unconscious friend off, the monster of a man has one last look at his fallen friend before deciding to take on the dagger wielding young man. With a war cry that would make most men cower but somehow only managed to make the ash coloured man grow more excited and making his crimson eyes soft glow intensify. The brute charges to the young man with speed that catches him by surprise and upper cuts him right in the gut with fists the size of shovels. The glowing eyed man slams into the wall, his shield on his back only added to the pain for his back, doubling over in pain the crimson eyed man receives a right hook to the jaw sending him sprawling to the ground in a daze. Coughing up blood he tightened the grip on his blade while wiping the blood from his mouth being mindful of his now split lip, he crawled to his hands and knees to try and get up but the pain in his gut and back refused to let him.

It was now time for the brute to observe the cloaked man on all fours in obvious pain struggling to stand up. Walking over to the struggling man the brute stomped on his back pinning him to the ground, groaning in pain the pinned man's ribs began to crack under the weight of the monstrous man laughing above him. Swinging his dagger blindly as an attempt to throw the man off him, he managed to catch him in the ankle. Yelping in pain the muscle man leapt off of the cloaked man's back, knowing he had to get up quickly to avoid another blow; the young man ignored the protest of his aching body and leapt up just in time to avoid a double sledge attack that was aimed for his back. In a blur of movement he spun his dagger so that the hilt was positioned in the front of his hand and thrust it forward, the hilt collided with the brute's nose completely destroying it. Stopping mid-swing the man clutched his face screaming as blood seeped from his now non-existent nose. With a grunt of pain the cloaked man stood up straight and side kicked the screaming man on his lower leg snapping the bone. As the brute began to fall from loss of balance from having his leg broken the crimson eyed man flipped his dagger again so that the blade was in the front this time and skilfully slashed at the man's stomach successfully disembowelling him, as the man's intestines spilled from his gut he fell to the floor, intestines flying like ribbons behind him. Tired of hearing the man scream the young man slammed the hilt of his dagger into a pressure point on the brute's neck knocking him out.

Not long after knocking the second brute out the cloaked man almost collapses to the floor with him as the pain from the fight finally caught up with him, deciding to sit down for a couple of minutes to rest his throbbing body, unknown to the man his body changed back from ash gray skin and glowing eyes into his normal moon kissed skin and crimson eyes. Lifting his shirt he noticed large nasty purple bruises forming along his stomach and ribs which were tender to the touch, he assumed he had one on his cheek where he had been punched, it certainly felt like it. After he finished fussing over his bruises he noticed another bloody body on the floor not far from where he fought with the two men, he assumed that the poor sap must have been the one that the two muscle thuds were using as a punching bag before he had practically butchered them, not really caring if any of them were still alive the man wiped off the blood that had sprayed on his face during the fight being mindful of his lip and bruised cheek and used the shirt less bloody of the men to clean his dagger with before sheathing it. Pulling his hood over his head he made his way down stairs.

As he reached the ground floor he spotted the little old innkeeper cowering behind his counter, he was even paler than the moon kissed man at the staircase the old man looked absolutely petrified by the event he had heard from the floor above as he seen the hooded man walk from the stairs and too the front door he perked up his courage just enough to whisper in his horrid voice "Have they stopped fighting yet?" completely unaware that the man he was currently speaking too was part of the fight and responsible for the pain filled screams from two of the men on the floor above. The hooded man chose to ignore the old man's question as he was still pretty pissed by the amount of rupees he had lost for such a shitty room, he was also not sure if he was able to speak properly with the injury to his jaw so would just let the innkeeper find out about upstairs on his own as he made his way out into the street and a panicking innkeeper behind.

I'm happy that people are enjoying my story so please read & review!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Dawn had just broken but shed little light as large gray rain clouds loomed over castle town casting long shadows in their wake. The cloaked man hid in the shadows of one of the larger buildings in the town square holding his cloak tightly to his body to keep as much heat as possible from escaping as icy wind howled through the town, he was not just holding his cloak to preserve heat, but also so that it wouldn't rustle in the wind. Stealth was the key to him this morning as he was not just hiding in the shadows to avoid the watchful eyes of the guards but because he was tailing someone and he couldn't afford for his cloak to give him away.

That someone he was watching was a cheerful man clad in green who seemed blissfully unaware of the grim weather; either that or he just didn't care. That someone was Link the hero of Hyrule. Link walked straight up to the beautifully decorated fountain in the middle of the square and sat on the edge as if he was waiting for someone but unfortunately he was facing the direction of the cloaked man hiding in the shadows, thankfully his black clothing helped conceal him in the shadows.

The crimson eyed man growled in frustration as he would have to find a way to get behind Link without him noticing. 'Hmm, the gap is too large between the shadows of the buildings for me to run by undetected and I doubt I would be even able to run with the way my ribs are, I'm pretty sure they're cracked cos even breathing hurts. Since I've run out of potions there's nothing I can do about it. I could always shadow tail to the next building to get behind him but I'd have to be careful that he doesn't see me. I need to distract him with something but what? It's too early for the townsfolk to be out and even if it weren't the bad weather would still make many of them stay indoors so the chance that he'll stop and talk to someone is low but why are you just sitting there? Are you waiting for someone...? What should I do?'

As questions and possible escape plans clogged his mind he didn't notice a figure walk up to Link and strike up a conversation until he heard Link laugh, apparently the person was whoever Link was waiting for. Seeing it as his chance to slip by the cloaked man made his way to the edge of the shadows only to stare in surprise and annoyance as he noticed who Link was talking to it was the Sheikah, Shiek. The cloaked man and Shiek had a long history with one another they weren't friends but they weren't exactly enemies either, they were more like off/on friends but that was six years ago so the crimson eyed man wasn't sure if they even had a friendship anymore after all with their shaky relationship you can't just disappear for six years and then just turn up out of the blue and expect to take off from where you last left it.

'It would not be good if Shiek found me staking Link considering how banged up I am.' The cloaked man thought as he decided that now was a good a time as any to sneak by while they were deep in conversation he hadn't had to do this in three years so he may not be as quick as he used to be, he only hoped that Shiek wouldn't spot him. His body turned into a humanoid 3d shadow with crimson eyes and then melted into the ground waiting for his chance to move.

As Shiek was talking to Link something out of place caught the corner of his eye it was a shadowy mass on the ground that quickly shot from the shadows of a nearby building to another behind Link, it would have gone unnoticed or even mistaken for the shadow of a bird by a normal person but Shiek wasn't a normal person he was a Sheikah they were trained to notice things like this. It helped that he had seen this before although not in years but he was sure of it, it was a Shadow Being they were often mistaken for Twili because they both came from the Twilight Realm. Six years ago when Zant took over the Twilight Realm, most of the Shadow Beings were turned into monsters, the ones that escaped that fate passed themselves off as Hylians; the only difference between Shadow Beings and Hylian's was that Shadow Beings had pale skin and crimson eyes they were also able to use shadow magic that was often mistaken for dark magic because of their similar appearance. 'Before Minda destroyed the Mirror of Twilight almost all of the Shadow Beings returned to the Twilight Realm but now it looks like they have decided to show up in Hyrule again and it seems like this one has taken an interest in Link.' Sheik thought as Link said good bye and headed off to Telma's bar mentioning that she had a message for him.

Sheik made sure that Link and any townsfolk were out of the town square before he stepped up to where the cloaked man hid calling "I know you're there come out and tell me why you are following Link!"

Soon after a sigh was heard and a cloaked figure came out of the shadows, his hood was raised so the only part of his face that could be seen was his mouth that his lip was split and was spouting a large bruise on the right side of his jaw. "It's a bit suspicious to keep your hood up when it's not even raining, lower your hood let me see your face!" Sheik ordered but the man made no move to remove his hood and only gave a grin flashing small fangs and that pissed Sheik off "I will not tell you again remove you're hood and tell me what you want with Link!" Sheik bellowed as he unsheathed his sabre and pointed it towards the hooded man.

'Damn Sheikah why can't you mind your own bloody business now I've got to find Link again...' Although it could be fun to see how much Sheik's swordsmanship has improved since he mostly used his chain and throwing knife's in the past.

As he reached for his sword he suddenly stopped and winced as white hot pain erupted from his chest reminding him about his cracked ribs. 'Damn I won't be able to use my sword my ribs hurt like hell when I lift my arms, breathing isn't much fun ether... I'll just have to use magic then.' The crimson eyed man thought as he stood before the angry Sheikah. He didn't really want to hurt Sheik so he would only use his magic to stop Sheik and give himself time to dodge his attacks. 'He he! Sheik doesn't know that I can use magic now, after all I didn't know how to use it until I left Hyrule... this should be fun!'

Bored by this staring match Sheik lunged at the hooded man narrowly missing his chest as the cloaked man jumped back into the shadows. Sheik was about to dive in after him when a wall of black flames blocked his path."Damn it really is a Shadow Being!" He yelped as he stepped back from the flames, the heat quickly becoming too much for the Sheikah. Suddenly he heard chuckling in his left ear as the shadowy flames parted. Spinning on his heel, he swiped his sabre in the direction of the laugh only to meet thin air. Confused the Sheikah was about to search for his opponent only to suddenly have a pair of hands grab his ankles and roughly throw him to the ground. Growling as his annoyance became anger Sheik pulled himself to his feet glaring holes into the chuckling shadowy mass as it once again darted in to the shadows of a nearby building. "That was a cheap trick hiding in my shadow!" Sheik growled out while wiping off the blood which was dribbling down his chin with the back of his hand.

'Fine two can play at that game!' The Sheikah thought, smirking as he throw a deku nut to the ground causing a blinding light to engulf him as he teleported himself behind the cloaked man. Fully expecting this to happen, the cloaked man spun around but too slow to avoid a devastating kick to the ribs that sent him flying to the ground and crashing into the side of the fountain.

Sheik proudly walked up to the hooded man that was currently curled up into his self, holding his ribs while coughing and spluttering up blood. "B-bastard!" the hooded man wheezed as he pulled himself up so that he could sit on the edge of the fountain, smirking he finally pulling his hood down to reveal his face to a shocked Sheik that could only utter one word. "...Dark?!"


	4. Chapter 4

In the waiting room a mother nervously covered her son's ears as a constant stream of cursing, swearing and pain filled yelps flew from the doctors' room. "This one's cracked too..." the old doctor mumbled as he gave the cracked rib one more jab, earning another yelp from Dark as he sat on the examination table, glaring at Sheik who was currently leaning against a wall grinning from ear to ear, for forcefully dragging him to the sadistic doctor after recovering from the shock of seeing his old friend from this morning.

"Gyaah! I fucking know it's cracked so stop jabbing at it and just fix it so I can get out of here!" Dark bellowed at the doctor before beginning to wheeze and cough up blood.

Huffing, the doctor eventually pulled out a potion from one of the many cupboards in the room and gave it to Dark before he began to rap his ribs in bandages. "I usually don't give my patients potions because too many weakens the body's recovery process." The doctor explained.

"Like I give a shit about that!" Dark said rasping as he drowned the potion in one go, cringing at the bitter aftertaste.

As he waited for the doctor to finish rapping his ribs Dark noticed how much Sheik had changed through the years, he no longer had the feminine figure which Dark would tease him for at any given moment, his body was now as toned and muscular as Dark's giving Sheik a more masculine look. No longer wearing his turban Dark saw that his once waste long golden brown hair was now cut short to the middle of his neck giving it a natural spiky look, his long fringe was also cut shorter but just enough so that they didn't cover his red eyes, they weren't as deep a red as Dark's as they were more ruby than crimson. Ruby eyes were trademark for the Sheikah as much as crimson was for Shadow Beings. Sheik's short hair reminded Dark that he wanted to cut his own as he was fed-up with always having to tie it up. Dark has about to look away until something shiny caught his eye, it was a bracelet on Sheik's left wrist. 'A bondage bracelet. When did you get married?... hm, I'll ask him later' Dark thought winching as the doctor pulled at his bandages a little too roughly. "Ack! For fuck sake! Hurry up!" Dark was now very tempted to use his dagger once again today. As the doctor gave Dark the all clear he stormed out of the building cursing and swearing about the old doctor the whole way.

The grey clouds had finally parted revealing it to be mid-day as the pair left the doctors. Dark was happy to leave, he couldn't stand doctors with all their questions and probing! Sheik knew Dark hated doctors for that specific reason, and that was one of the reasons why he dragged him there. It was his way of getting his own back for Dark leaving so suddenly back then. Dark only told him that he was leaving Hyrule by letter and that was after he left! It was most likely so that Sheik couldn't try to stop him from leaving because he was already gone. Of course the other reason for taking him to the doctors was because he panicked when Dark began to have coughing fits and bringing up blood.

Basking in the gentle heat of the morning sun Dark began to stretch lazily only to have his ribs throb reminding him that he still had his bruises. That's the thing about potions; they can heal gashes broken bones but for some strange reason they can do nothing for bruises. 'As long as I don't do anything too extreme they should be okay.' Dark thought as he gently patted his ribs. "Don't tell me you're still mad about me leaving; you must have known I would eventually?" Dark said as he walked through the town square with a silent Sheik.

"No, I'm not mad anymore. I understand why you left; you wanted to see more of the world. After all you weren't exactly able to do that when you were with Ganondorf and then after coming here we were shoved straight into another battle with him." Sheik said carelessly.

"Yeah... "Replied Dark, quietly as he slowly walked behind Sheik eventually coming to a stop at the fountain with a pained expression on his face.

Suddenly realizing his mistake Sheik spun around, grabbing Dark by the shoulders with his head bowed he almost screamed in panic "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way, I wasn't thinking. I forgot how horrible it was for you back then, please forgive me!" After a couple of painful minutes of silence Sheik heard a small chuckle, looking up at Dark he was shocked to see Dark smiling it was small but still a smile, those were rare for Dark.

"I forgot how much you worry about me; I didn't know you still cared!" Dark said teasingly while still smiling. "Of course I still care you're my friend why wouldn't I?"

Sheik said in disbelief, his grip on Dark's shoulders tightening "You think because you left for 6 years I would no longer be your friend? I know the reason for you leaving and I'm not angry, I'm happy that you got to have your freedom! And I'm also happy you came back because you are still my friend and nothing is going to change that!"

Dark was ecstatic to know that he still had a friend; it had been years since he had been this happy. Nothing could destroy his mood right now, well except "that" but he doubted Sheik would say "that" so it's good!

"Heh! Thanks Sheik that really means a lot to me... but you can let go now." Dark said beginning to feel uncomfortable with the way sheik was holding him.

Letting go of Dark's shoulders Sheik rubbed the back of his neck also feeling a bit awkward about their little scene. The both were receiving odd looks from passerby's that were the in the area. "Em... so, where are you going now?" Sheik said with hopes of clearing the air.

"I donno maybe go to Telma's." Dark said with a shrug

"Ah, well I'll see you later then; I've got something's to do." Sheik said with a wave as he began to leave.

"Hey, Sheik before you leave... why are there so many guards about the place is there something going on?" Dark asked curious as to the unusually large amount of guards that were around castle town.

"Oh, that's right you don't know! The harvest festival is coming up in two weeks and the royal family will be joining plus we'll have a lot more travellers thanks to the trading routes being open again." Sheik explained.

"I see, so the extra guards are to help keep the royal family safe." Dark realized.

After saying good bye to one another they went their separate ways, Dark made his way through the bazaar, buying himself an apple and half a loaf of bread for breakfast a smile on his face grew into a grin knowing that when a festival is due then there will be a lot of Marks for monster slaying and since he was now completely healed he was eager to start. 'I'm going to be loaded after this!' Dark thought happily as he walked down the cobblestone steps to Telma's bar. Stepping through the door Dark stumbled upon a rather amusing sight; he saw the skinniest man he had ever seen trying to carry a barrel of beer which was half the size of him into the back of the bar. His face was beetroot red and his legs shaking from the sheer weight of the heavy barrel, his body swayed dangerously as he slowly shuffled to the back door huffing and grunting on his way. Dark was tempted to just stand and watch the man struggle but the man looked as if he was about to sway to the side at any moment and break open the barrel and Dark didn't care to have his feet swimming in beer. As if on cue the barrel began to slip from the man's grasp and Dark was just quick enough to catch it before it hit the ground.

"Phew, thanks' I was about to drop it." the man said gratefully as he fixed his grip.

"If you didn't snap in two first..." Dark mused quietly to himself; luckily the man didn't hear him as they carried it into the back room.

"Thanks' again mister, Telma would have had my head if I dropped it." the man thanked again as they walked to the front of the bar. "Why didn't you just roll it in? It would have been a lot simpler." Dark questioned as he sat on a stool and bit into his apple.

"Ah, I didn't think of that... "The man replied sheepishly while scratching his head. Dark just rolled his eyes and continued eating his apple until he heard someone walking down the stairway.

"Miguel have you finished loading the barrels yet?" called a rich voice from the stairs.

"Ah, yes Telma, they're all finished." Miguel called as Telma walked to the front of the bar while drying her hands.

"Good you didn't break any of them this time, because if you did it would be coming out of your payment." Miguel cringed at the thought of having a chunk his payment lost and quickly said his goodbyes before darting out of the bar before he accidentally did any damage to Telma's merchandise.

"That was a bit harsh don't ya think?" Dark said from his stool making Telma jump out of her skin.

"Wah! What the- Dark? Is that you?!" Telma cried in surprise as she took a step towards Dark while he gave a fanged grin in response. "Oh sweetie how have you been? It's been years!" Telma said gleefully as she suddenly pulled Dark off his stool and into a bone crushing hug.

"T-Telma watch the ribs!" Dark complained as Telma released him from her vice-like grip.

"What did you do to yourself this time? Seriously Dark almost every time I see you, you've got a wound of some sort." Telma said while shaking her head.

"Nah, it's just bruises." Dark said as he sat back down on his stool and finished off his apple.

"Is that so... Well, I heard from Sheik that you went travelling, did you just get back?" Telma said as she sat on the stool beside Dark.

"Yeah, got back last night. So how's the bar been?"

"Just fine, I haven't had to replace any of my tables and chairs since you left." Telma teased.

"Oh come on, I prayed for the damages before I left didn't I? Plus it wasn't just me that wrecked it..." Dark grumbled as he sulked in his stool. "Don't worry honey, Sheik paid for his share of the damages too but the next time the both of you decide to fight, please take it out side." Telma said as she folded the cloth in her hands and set it on the counter beside her and stood up to face Dark. "So my darling, are you just here for a chat or is there something else I can help you with?" Telma asked with a wink.

Dark brushed it off knowing that she was just playing and got straight to business. "I'm here to see if you have any bills put up?" Dark asked as he walked behind the counter and throw his apple core in the waste basket.

"I do in fact; it's just over here on the notice board." On the wall beside the front door was the notice board which was stacked with bills for monster hunting. "As you can see there's a lot, I know you won't be the only one doing them but I'm hoping that you'll remove a good number of bills from the board by the end of the day." Telma said with a warm smile as she and Dark walked up to the board.

"You know I will." Dark said as he removed a bill from the board.

It was late in the evening as a happy Dark with a pouch full with rupees sat at Telma's bar. The bar had a cheerful atmosphere surrounded with others that also decided to have a laugh and a well-earned drink after a long day of monster hunting. Dark sniggered as he watched a foreigner choke on Hyrule whiskey after taking a large gulp, not realizing how strong it was as Hyrule whiskey was stronger than most other whiskeys. Walking over and patting his back Dark said "You should really sip that or it will take the throat off of you. Especially since you're not used to it, being a foreigner and all."

"How did you know?" the man said hoarsely after his throat recovered enough for him to speak.

"Well your clothes for one thing plus you're accent doesn't exactly sound Hylian ether." Dark said as he sat down beside the man.

"Ah I see, well my name's Wes, I'm a travelling merchant and you are...?" The man known as Wes said.

"I'm -"

"DARK! You have got one hell of a lot of explaining to do!" An extremely angry voice said from behind Dark and Wes.

Half of the bar went quiet as the two men turned around. Wes went pale as he and Dark came face to face with an extremely pissed off Sheik.

"What's up Sheik?" Dark said sounding almost bored as he leaned his elbows against the table sipping his drink, not affected by explosive temper of the Sheikah in the slightest.

"I'll tell you 'what's up!' I'm going to rip your fucking guts out if you don't explain what the fuck you did in that inn this morning!" Sheik roared.

"Ah, I was wondering when you were going to hound me for that?!" Dark said still not bothered by how pissed off Sheik was.

"Maybe you two should continue this in the other room?" Telma said calmly as she walked up to Dark and Sheik.

"Thank you, Telma." Sheik said stiffly as he dragged Dark by the arm to the spare room behind the bar, slamming the door behind him.

Shaking her head Telma sighed as she wasn't surprised in the slightest that not even a day had passed since Dark came back to Hyrule and he was already in trouble with Sheik about something. Ever since they both turned up in Hyrule out of nowhere 6 years ago, they've been at each other's throats but somehow were still good friends.

"Explain..." Sheik ordered as he leaned on the door with his arms crossed, frowning as he and Dark could hear Telma telling the people in the bar to go back to what they were doing as clear as day, letting them know how thin the walls were. "Omnes ego feci accipere cura demandatur alicuius guys ut sunt trashing diversorio, quod non fuit aliquid pro eis ad bliteum, locus prope inanis ... praesertim thalamo vos potestis credere, quod vetus Fulica qu fecit me solvere 300 rupee suus 'pro crappy conclave cum magis vel minus nihil in eo! Eram iustus super paratus scindam caput eius off hoc mane!" (All I did was take care of some guys that were trashing the inn, not that there was anything for them to trash, the place was practically empty... especially my room, can you believe that old coot made me pay 300 rupee's for a crappy room with more or less nothing in it! I was just about ready to rip his head off this morning!) Dark grumbled as he sat on a crate as the spare room was currently being used as a storage room.

"Te tenebras illinc apparentia quasi sanguine balneum! Plus tu non iustus 'curam' de eis sit! Mortuos suos, Dark vos practically occidistis eos!" (Dark you left that place looking like a blood bath! Plus you didn't just 'take care' of them! Their dead, Dark you practically butchered them!) Sheik sighed as he rubbed his temples "Sis felix es tantum questus a tunde in carpi ad hoc vobis Cos acute sibi gratiam fecit sicut illi duo serial interfectores voluit. Sed et intellexit quod vos non servavit, ut in aula fuit quoque vir quidem tecum locutus es ad IV post menses autem vivere, quod ego vobis in illa hora vos mane experrectus est iustus homo, et tu non mane." (You're lucky you're only getting a slap on the wrist for this cos you actually did us a favour as those two were wanted serial killers. Also you may not had realized it but you also saved a life, as there was another man in the hall too, he said you saved his life but after living with you for 4 months, I know that for you to be up in that time in the morning means they just woke you up and you're not a morning person.) Sheik said smugly as he saw Dark huffed in annoyance for being found out.

"Respice sum i in tribulationis pro hoc aut non!" (Look am I in trouble for this or not!) Dark snapped. "Immo non te operam, ne iterum quia non addam ut impune possit." (No, no you're not just try and not do it again because next time you might not get away with it so easily.) Sheik warned as they left the room. To be sure no one "overheard" they had decided that they should speak Old Hylian and it was a good thing too because as they left the "storage room" they were given strange looks from the people closest to the room. Dark and Sheik were not surprised as Old Hylian was now a lost language, only a hand full of people in Hyrule including Dark and Sheik could understand and speak Old Hylian as everyone now spoke Modern Hylian.

As they walked to the front of the bar to Dark's previous seat Dark noticed that Wes was nowhere to be found. "You're mean Sheik; you scared my new friend away!" He grumbled teasingly.

"How do you know that he didn't just leave for another reason?" Sheik countered.

"So are you staying for a drink?" Dark said ignoring Sheik's last comment as the two sat down.

"I suppose but nothing alcoholic I've got to go to the castle after this." He replied. Some travellers in the table beside them were looking a bit nervous after Sheik's earlier outburst but were ignored as the men were too busy betting as to the reason for Wes leaving for them to notice.

"So since I see you two are friends again what will it be?" said Telma as she walked up to the two men's table. Dark ordered a beer and Sheik got some milk.

"Hey Telma, why did Wes leave, did Sheik scare him off?!" Dark asked as he jabbed his thumb in Sheiks direction.

"No he left because he has to set up his stall early tomorrow." Telma explained chuckling. Dark cursed under his breath as he gave Sheik the 50 rupee's he had won.

"Will Link be there?" Dark said out of the blue.

"What?" Sheik said confused by the random question.

"The castle... will Link be there?" Dark answered while sipping on his drink.

Sheik took a couple of minutes to think about it. "Yes, I think so... why?" Sheik said eyeing him suspiciously.

"Nothing bad I promise, I've just got to give him this!" Dark said as he rummaged through his bag pulling out a letter."Here, you might as well give it to him since you're more likely to see him than me." Dark said as he gives Sheik the letter.

"That still doesn't explain why you were sneaking around! Why didn't you just give it to him out right?" Sheik asked still suspicious.

"Were would the fun be in that! Besides I was hoping to have a little fun with him first but you spoiled that so I decided to have some fun with you instead!" Dark said with a fanged grin.

Groaning Sheik said "you never change do you!" As Sheik finished his milk something shiny glittered in Dark's eyes, it was Sheik's bracelet which reminded him about his question from this morning.

"Hey Sheik, when did you tie the knot with someone?" He asked as he tapped Sheik's bondage bracelet to show that he was talking about.

"Ah, well about half a year after you left, I'll introduce you to her sometime, I've even got some kids." Sheik said a bit embarrassed.

"Really, how many?!" Dark said surprised

"Two boys and one on the way!" Sheik said proudly. "Well I've got to go; I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Sheik said as he stood to leave.

"Sure see ya!" Dark said with a lopsided grin as Sheik left for the castle leaving Dark to finish his drink.

As the sun set, castle town was set ablaze as a curtain of fiery reds and oranges washed over it, sending twilight in its wake. A song played along the winds. Only a hand full in Hyrule knew the song and the instrument that played it.

Sheik leaned against the window in the main lounge of the castle, a peaceful smile on his face as he fondly watched Link and the now queen Zelda chat as her twin children danced around their feet. The boy twin Oran often bombarding Link with questions and begging for Link to show him a sword technique, while the girl twin Nura would chase after her brother in a game of tag with Sheik often being used as a safe area.

Nura ran to Sheik and clung to his leg, once again using him as a safe spot. "That's not fair; you can't keep running to Sheik! I don't want him to be the safe spot any more. I bet Sheik's sick of you always grabbing his leg anyway!" Oran said, smirking at his pouting sister as she looked up at Sheik looking as if she was going to cry

"I-I'm not annoying you am I Sheik?" Nura said worryingly. Looking down Sheik felt his heart melt as he looked into her big watery eyes his fatherly instincts taking over.

Petting her head he said "of course not princess, I don't mind." Turning to her brother Nura stuck her tongue out at him.

"Humph, you always do that when you get what want" Oran grumbled under his breath while crossing his arms.

Sheik and Zelda froze in place as a melody drifted across the town. Hearing a song at this time of day was unusual but that was not the reason they froze it was because of the type of song that was being played. "That's the song of time!" Sheik said in surprise 'I haven't heard that song since I was in my own time... Dark are you the one playing it?'

Still clinging to Sheik's leg Nura said "It's a pretty song but I haven't heard it before, mommy who's playing it?"

Both twins looked up at their mother expecting her to know the answer. Zelda smiled gently at her children " I wouldn't expect ether of you to know that song it has not been played for hundreds of years, although I am curious as to who is playing it though as only a select few outside the royal family know that song, I would also like to know here they came to possess an ocarina the only one known to be still around is the ocarina of time and that has been safely hidden."

"Zelda what is the chance someone could get the ocarina of time?" Link asked, worried that someone may have stolen the ocarina.

"Don't worry Link it hasn't been stolen. It's hidden by my magic and I would know if someone was trying to steal it." Zelda answered, Link was instantly relieved by that.

As Sheik was wondering if Dark was the one playing the song of time he suddenly remembered about the letter Dark had given to him for Link. "Ah, Link! I just remembered my friend gave me a letter for you." Handing Link the letter Link recognized the handwriting, eagerly tore the letter open and began to read, when he finished he was grinning wildly.

"It's from Shad, he said that he's finished exploring and will be back in Hyrule soon!" Link said excited that his friend was coming home. "By the way if you don't mind me asking who's your friend and why did your he have the letter and not the postman?" Link asked confused

"Would you have preferred the postman?" Sheik said with a grin.

"N-no thank you!" Link cried, horror written over his face as a sudden image of the postman and his indecent uniform that looked like underwear entered his mind.

Sheik chuckled as he said "I'm not too sure why he has it but his is name is Dark, I don't think you've met him yet, he also helped us to defeat Ganondorf, even if it was from the shadows." Sheik explained.

"Why didn't he help up front with everybody else?"Link asked a little suspiciously.

"He... had a bad experience with Dark magic in the past and decided it was best helping from the sidelines!" Sheik quickly answered, not wanting to tell them the true reason as to why he decided to work from the shadows so that they wouldn't jump to conclusions. He wasn't exactly telling a lie, he just wasn't telling them the truth as a whole.

Flashback.

Sheik's lungs were burning and his legs were beginning to numb as he ran through the cliff face of Death Mountain but he didn't care, the only thing that was on Sheik's mind right now was getting to Link on time. Link was currently trying to fight off three Shadow Beasts that had him cornered near a cliff edge while in his Hylian form. Thanks to the large rocks and the electric barrier which surrounded Link and the monsters the Sheikah was having trouble getting a clear shot with his bow, when he noticed an area not far above him which looked like it had a clearer view. The only thing was that he didn't have time to head up as Link was getting dangerously close to the edge.

Link had all ready taken one of the Shadow Beasts out and was half way killing the second but in order to dispel the barrier he had to kill the last two Shadow Beasts together but the third was staying out of Link reach by hiding in-between the large rocks, which also meant Sheik getting a clear shot almost imposable so the only thing left him to do was to head for the area above and pray to the goddesses that Link could hold out until he made it. As the Sheikah neared his destination the heard a twang of a bow and then a thud of something dropping. Rushing to the top of the cliff Sheik saw Dark with a bow; he had aimed in the area Link was in. Fearing Dark had shot Link, Sheik launched himself to the cliff edge in order to see what happened. Releasing the breath he hadn't realized he was holding Sheik gave a sigh of relief as he saw that Dark had in fact shot the hidden Shadow Beast just as Link killed his own as a result the barrier was removed. Standing up Sheik dusted himself off and glanced at Dark, his arms were crossed and in an accusing tone he asked "Did you think I was going to shoot Link?"

Sheik just stared at Dark with guilty eyes while Dark waited for his answer. "Sorry... I just panicked" he finally replied.

Dark just sighed as he put his bow over his shoulder. "Have you ever wondered why the Shadow Beasts look the most human of the Shadow monsters? It's because they're Shadow Beings and Twili that have been turned into monsters, I could sense their magic mixed with the Dark magic... I bet the imp, Minda could sense it too." Dark said solemnly as he hide behind a rock as he peeked down at the pair as they began to make their way up to were Dark and Sheik stood.

Sheik was speechless it hadn't even occurred to him that the Shadow Beasts could have been people once. "Sheik... don't tell Link at least not yet, I don't think he'd be able to handle the fact that he killed something that used to be a person and before you start asking the reason I'm not fighting outright like everybody else, it's because I might not always want to help out plus I don't want to be another puppet." Dark said softly. Before Sheik could question him on what he meant by not wanting to be another puppet Dark had disappeared through the shadows just as Link and Minda walk up to Sheik to thank him for his help with the Shadow Beast not knowing their true saviour had left. Minda had her suspicions though as she thought she could sense the fresh scent of a Shadow Being but wasn't sure if it was just the lingering scent of the Shadow Beasts so she let the subject drop for now.

Flashback end.

Thinking back Sheik wondered 'Dark did you know that it was Ganondorf from behind the scenes?' Zelda gave him a look that said she didn't completely believe him but decided she would ask him for the truth in private as she guessed he was sugar coating it for Dark's sake. Sheik noticed that Zelda wasn't buying it and sighed knowing he was going to have to tell her the whole truth but thankfully Link seemed to be happy with that answer and didn't say any more about it, much to Sheik's relief.

Realizing it was too quiet Link, Zelda and Sheik began to look for the twins only to find them curled up on one of the sofas asleep. Deciding to call it a night Zelda and Link picked up the twins and began to carry them to their bedrooms. "Link would you like to spend the night in one of our guest rooms; it's much too late for you to head back to Ordon." Zelda asked as he tucked the twin's in.

"Thank you but I already have a room in an inn for the night. Link said politely. "Good night my lady, I shall see you tomorrow I know that you will have much to discuss and good night to you too Link, if you're lucky I might be able to introduce you to Dark tomorrow." Sheik said before he and Link made their way home.

The moon was high in the sky then Dark jumped down from a rooftop and made his way to a new inn to stay for the night with an ocarina in his hand given to him by a friend from so long ago.


End file.
